Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for the control of an automatic driving process of a vehicle as well as a correspondent controlling device.
Description of the Background Art
Vehicles such as passenger cars or trucks are increasingly equipped with automatic driving functions. These automatic driving functions pertain, for instance, to an automatic braking of the vehicle in the event of danger, an automatic following distance to a vehicle ahead, an automatic staying-in-lane as well as an automatic maneuvering when parking the vehicle or pulling out of a parking space. Especially during the automatic maneuvering of the vehicle during parking it can be desirable not to have a driver in the vehicle, for instance when parking in or pulling out of a very narrow parking space where the driver would have difficulties to leave or enter the vehicle through the driver's door once it is parked. However, during automatic driving processes when no driver is in the vehicle, it is desirable to ensure that the driver is in close proximity to the vehicle to monitor the automatic driving process.
In this context, DE 10 2008 051 982 A1 discloses a method and a device for the remote controlled maneuvering of a vehicle. In a first operating step an immobilizer system is deactivated and a motor is started. In a second operating step the vehicle is decelerated via a service brake, a parking brake is released and a driving position is engaged in an automatic transmission. In a third operating step a vehicle speed is controlled via the service brake. Before and during the process it is constantly monitored that a driver is located within a predetermined maximum distance from the car. For instance, a communication link to a remote control to the vehicle can be permitted only within a predetermined maximum distance to the vehicle to ensure that such remote controlled maneuvering of the vehicle can take place only under the immediate supervision of the driver.
DE 10 2009 051 463 A1 relates to a method to perform the reversing of a vehicle out of a parking space. An external control device communicates with a control device in the vehicle, and the control device in the vehicle determines the location information of the driver by considering the communication. The control device in the vehicle controls the reversing of the vehicle out of the parking space by evaluating the location information.
DE 10 2009 043 589 A1 relates to a method to control a driver's assistance system of a vehicle via a remote control. The driver's assistance system and the remote control each have a transmitting and receiving unit. The communication between remote control and driver's assistance system is accomplished via electromagnetic waves. A sound logging of the run time of the electromagnetic waves between remote control and driver's assistance system is performed, and the distance between remote control and driver's assistance system is determined from the sound logging. If the distance between remote control and driver's assistance system is smaller than a predetermined maximum distance, a driver's assistance function of the driver's assistance system is activated by the remote control.
DE 10 2012 007 984 A1 relates to a method for the automatic maneuvering of a vehicle with a vehicle control device designed to emit control signals to a drive and steering device of the vehicle. A portable communication device is designed to receive an input made by an operator at the operating controls of the portable communication device to release a maneuvering process and, based on this input, to wirelessly transmit a command to the control device to initiate the maneuvering process. The operating controls of the portable communication device have an operating element, and the portable communication device is designed to initiate the maneuvering of the vehicle only for as long as the operator is using the operating element.
DE 20 2008 018 157 U1 relates to a garage assistant to assist in the parking of a vehicle in a garage. The parking process is visually transmittable to a mobile end device via a wireless interface.
DE 10 2009 041 587 A1 relates to a driver's assistance device enabling the driver of a vehicle to easily recognize a dangerous situation during an automatic parking process of the vehicle. A control device is designed to receive commands from a remote control and to stop an already begun parking process of a vehicle after receiving a predetermined stop command. At least one camera is coupled to the control device and obtains image data of a surrounding area of the vehicle. The control device sends signals to the remote control which include the image data obtained by the camera or image data calculated from them.
For a vehicle to pull out of a tight parking space or to park in a tight parking space without the driver being in the vehicle, a utilization of a remote control device makes sense. The reach of such a remote control device, for instance a wireless remote control or a mobile phone, however, can be relatively great, for example several 10 m or even more. This allows the possibility to perform the parking process even from this relatively great distance although it should be avoided for safety reasons to ensure that the driver does not operate the function by mistake and visually monitors the parking process.